Many people own front yards and gardens with fabulous potential, and then fill them with flowers and shrubs of all sizes and colors. However, they can still tend to look bare. Why is that? Because there is nothing to break up the vegetation, and provide something different for people to look at. Flowers are very beautiful, but a well designed garden needs that extra something to set it aside from all the other gardens in the neighborhood.



How about a bird feeder in form of St. Francis, or even a dragonfly, that you can attach to a wall or a tree, and attract birds in the spring and summer while feeding them in the winter. Many birds will come to rely on you for their food source when they need you most. Place a few stone stepping stones in the flowerbeds to allow you to enjoy them at their best without getting dirty feet. You can use the stepping stones to reach the feeders on the wall in order to refill them. You will attract a wide variety of songbirds to your garden that will provide you with tuneful pleasure all year round.

Does it rain a lot in your part of the country, or is it generally hot and sunny? In either case why not have a thermometer and rain gauge in your garden, tastefully sculpted in the form of a drinking frog or sleepy owl. If it never rains, just have the thermometer in the form a fairy sitting contemplating your flowers as she enjoys the sun. You can find out how much it rained during the night, or just how hot it really is.

Statues are always popular in gardens, and provide a great focal point to break up a lawn or provide a conversation piece in winter and fall when the flowers have died down. Statues in the form of frogs, angels, cats, dogs and even tortoises make a change from the ubiquitous gnome. Everybody has gnomes, but how many have wish fairies or pixies? Be different and stand out from the crowd. Be noticed!

You can also use inexpensive concrete cast stones around your borders, that come in a wide variety of designs, and finished so beautifully that cannot tell it from the real thing. And they are durable! Stones come cast in the form of angels, fairies and a wide variety of angels and birds. These would enhance any garden, and all are available online. You don't have to go down to the garden center to get your hands on these, just find a suitable online retail site and have them delivered.

Walls generally look a bit bare in the garden unless you have some climbing plants. You can provide a bit of decoration by means of stone plaques that are available in a wide variety of designs. Many are in the form of faces ? the sun, for example, or a wide variety of leaves and vegetables with funny and grumpy faces displayed on them. Just the thing to keep the kids happy and amused. Cover them up with a few climbing plants, and watch them begin to appear in the fall.

Another great idea is to have wall plaque personalized as you want it. You have your name put on it or your address, and put it outside your backyard gate. Have a memorable date inscribed, such as the date or year you moved into your house, or the date of your wedding. I am sure you can think of lots of ways in which you can have your plaques personalized.

A few statues or stone animals placed in and around your fountain would make a change, or a large stone planter would look great on the patio. There are so many lovely garden ornaments available to transform your garden into a work of art, and so many talking points that you can place at strategic points around the garden. All it takes is some imagination and the will to start.

Don't stare at the neighbor's garden with all its garden d'cor and garden sculptures that make it look a more complete garden that yours. Do something about it, and design your own with garden d'cor that will enhance your garden, no matter how large or small. Don't think about, just get up and do it.